2020-08-09: Reds (Gray) at Brewers (Woodruff) [Brewers win, 9-3 -- Hiura, Yelich, and Smoak with big days offensively]

[Eye Black]

 

Brandon Woodruff: Batter (Reds) vs Pitching Stats

 

Sonny Gray: Batter (Brewers) vs Pitching Stats

[Eye Black]

Looking at the previous pitcher versus hitter results in this matchup...

 

Both Logan Morrison and Justin Smoak have nearly identical batting lines against Sonny Gray. Both are 7-for-33. Both have one double. Smoak has a home run. They’ve combined for 22 strikeouts (9 for Morrison, 13 for Smoak).

 

The current active players on the Brewers roster have 134 career at bats against Sonny Gray, and their line is .210 BA / .272 OBP / .272 SLG for a .545 OPS.

 

Brandon Woodruff comes in allowing a 1.006 OPS against the current collection of Reds hitters, but that is just 45 total at bats. The two primary culprits to Woodruff’s rough numbers are Joey Votto (6-for-9, 2 HRs) and Jesse Winker (4-for-7, 2B).

[Underachiever]

Lift the Miller Park curse!

[homer]

Woody might have to throw a no no.

[Eye Black]

Woody might have to throw a no no.

With the shaky defense displayed in this series he might need a perfect game with 15+ Ks.

[RollieTime]

Setting the Over/Under for total runs scored today at 3.

[Devinep]

So CC wants to sacrifice defense at DS and 2B by not DHing Hiura so that he can play BOTH of his trash-hitting 1B? Ok.....

[markedman5]

I know the lineup has come under heavy criticism.......and rightly so....they have performed very poorly.

 

But It’s just a wierd thing when every one of the position players has started out in a slump to start the season with the exception of Arcia who has been average for him......(which we all know is still bad) Gamel and Sogard have been ok too but nothing special.

 

Everyone else is well below what would have been expected coming into the season........including this guy....

 

 

Maybe things will even out a bit going forward.......we can only hope.

[homer]

Woody might have to throw a no no.

With the shaky defense displayed in this series he might need a perfect game with 15+ Ks.

 

Honestly would not surprise me if they put up like a 5 spot on Gray. Seems like the kind of joke the baseball gods would play on us.

[TURBO]

But It’s just a wierd thing when every one of the position players has started out in a slump to start the season with the exception of Arcia who has been average for him....

 

Not so weird for guys like Smoak, Healy, and Morrrison, who pretty much just suck anyway. Is it a slump if they are just bad baseball players?

 

Narvaez has shown us nothing except they were right when we heard people saying he was not a good defensive catcher. They were wrong when they said he was a good offensive catcher. So far, he has been a big disappointment. HUGE downgrade from Grandal.

 

Guys like Smoak, Morrison, and Helay, I expected nothing from to begin with, so they are just pretty much doing what I expected them to do.

 

Sogard is just a guy who should never be a regular starting 3B or SS, but yet, here we are.

 

I expected more out of Garcia, but not a lot more, he is an average guy that I was fine with when we signed him.

 

I sincerely hope that Urias and Lauer prove to be worth the trade. With the way Grisham has performed, there is a good chance that we got hosed in that trade.

 

The fact we don't have a real 3B and 1B just leaves us with this crap filled line-up on a daily basis. I can see what our plan at 1B was, throw some crap against the wall and see if something sticks, but what were we thinking at 3B?

 

Yelich and Hiura are slumping, the rest, well, I think they just aren't good to begin with.

 

As I have said before, I'm glad we only have to watch this offense for 60 games, rather than 162.

[Eye Black]

Honestly would not surprise me if they put up like a 5 spot on Gray. Seems like the kind of joke the baseball gods would play on us.

Agreed, and I certainly hope that’s the case!

[BruisedCrew]

I’m hoping that today’s game will be worth watching last the top of the second inning.

[BruisedCrew]

But It’s just a wierd thing when every one of the position players has started out in a slump to start the season with the exception of Arcia who has been average for him....

 

Not so weird for guys like Smoak, Healy, and Morrrison, who pretty much just suck anyway. Is it a slump if they are just bad baseball players?

 

Narvaez has shown us nothing except they were right when we heard people saying he was not a good defensive catcher. They were wrong when they said he was a good offensive catcher. So far, he has been a big disappointment. HUGE downgrade from Grandal.

 

Guys like Smoak, Morrison, and Helay, I expected nothing from to begin with, so they are just pretty much doing what I expected them to do.

 

Sogard is just a guy who should never be a regular starting 3B or SS, but yet, here we are.

 

I expected more out of Garcia, but not a lot more, he is an average guy that I was fine with when we signed him.

 

I sincerely hope that Urias and Lauer prove to be worth the trade. With the way Grisham has performed, there is a good chance that we got hosed in that trade.

 

The fact we don't have a real 3B and 1B just leaves us with this crap filled line-up on a daily basis. I can see what our plan at 1B was, throw some crap against the wall and see if something sticks, but what were we thinking at 3B?

 

Yelich and Hiura are slumping, the rest, well, I think they just aren't good to begin with.

 

As I have said before, I'm glad we only have to watch this offense for 60 games, rather than 162.

 

To me, the Brewers current roster is like having about 7 of Hernan Perez. Guys who are in the neighborhood of replacement level, but having one or two of them is OK to serve as short term fill ins when players are hurt or need a day off. The problem for this team is that they are using these players in platoons to cover multiple positions, meaning you have 3 or 4 of them in the lineup every day. Not a recipe for a successful offense.

[BruisedCrew]

Tough first inning for Woodruff. Going to be a shorter outing from him today than what the Brewers needed to stay in the game.

 

And now probably all the runs Gray needs.

[markedman5]

Don’t often see Woody walk 2 guys in an inning.....and if course it costs him a run.

[Eye Black]

A 30-pitch 1st inning for Woodruff. What inning do we think Sonny Gray will hit his 30th pitch of the day? Bit of a rough start, but at least it’s only 1-0.

[markedman5]

“Not so weird for guys like Smoak, Healy, and Morrrison, who pretty much just suck anyway. Is it a slump if they are just bad baseball players”

 

The point is none of them are nearly as bad as they’ve shown over these first 12 games.

[brewers888]

I wish the Brewers could find a top flight pitching coach like whoever this guy is that the Reds have.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Oof. Strike 1 to Yelich. Yikes.

 

Least he hit it hard.

[MrTPlush]

I wish the Brewers could find a top flight pitching coach like whoever this guy is that the Reds have.

 

We can’t afford that. We need money to get studs like Smoak, Morrison, and Sogard.

[brewers888]

They won't do it in season but Haines has got to go.

[brewers888]

Garcia was another trash signing.

[BruisedCrew]

“Not so weird for guys like Smoak, Healy, and Morrrison, who pretty much just suck anyway. Is it a slump if they are just bad baseball players”

 

The point is none of them are nearly as bad as they’ve shown over these first 12 games.

 

Maybe they are that bad. Most of these guys are in their early 30’s and have histories with either injuries or limited success except in their one or two best years. So we’re talking about players on the downhill side of careers that weren’t that great in their primes. It’s unrealistic to expect many, if any, of them to be above average MLB starters.

[brewers888]

Taking a flier on a Smoak or Morrison is to be expected with a small market team but you just cannot have 4 or 5 of these type of guys starting everyday. With limited financial resources we need to do a better job drafting hitters so we don't have to rely on journeyman every offseason to fill holes.

[folly412]

Taking a flier on a Smoak or Morrison is to be expected with a small market team but you just cannot have 4 or 5 of these type of guys starting everyday. With limited financial resources we need to do a better job drafting hitters so we don't have to rely on journeyman every offseason to fill holes.

 

Third base is understandable since there were no good options without paying someone big. First base was deciding to dump Thames, a contributor and popular player, in order to save $2M.